Visitors Guide

Local Places to Go

If you love history, culture, arts and crafts, beaches, boats, rock pools, moorland walks and country pubs, well, perhaps you’ll need to reserve a few more days at Sampsons than you thought….. here’s our personal guide to Devon….

Being only five minutes drive from two of the main roads in the county, yet located in a tiny, quiet hamlet by the river, Sampsons Farm is one of the most convenient ( and charming!) places to stay if you are visiting Devon. So unlike many places here, you don’t need to spend half an hour of driving down scary single track lanes before you access a main road. You’ll lose no time at all en route to exploring some of the world class scenery, seaside, towns and attractions.

Nigel, Sarah and Eliza love to explore their own county, and here are some of their top tips:

Dartmoor National Park and Haytor Rock. Less than ten minutes drive away is Dartmoor National Park: home to the world famous ponies Widecome in the Moor, and of course, the Hound of the Baskervilles! Be king of all you survey after clambering up to the top of Haytor rock, from where you can even see the sea on a clear day….You might just deserve a locally brewed beer by log fire of a centuries old pub after all that! www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/index/visiting/vi-eventsguidedwalks.htm
Totnes/ Steamtrain/ Buckfast Abbey . A stunning day out….
Totnes Quirky; quaint, arty and completely offbeat, Totnes is one of the few place where you can learn to tango; make your own felt shoes; have your aura read, go on a river cruise, buy vintage evening dresses, home made fudge, soap and hand made paper; visit a castle, see just about every style of architecture from Tudor times to present day and take a tour of an Elizabethan house. And all virtually on the same high street. AND you can arrive by steam train if you so desire. Have we sold it to you yet?! www.totnesinformation.co.uk/attractions
Vineyard tour and wine tasting: Sharpham, the international award winning vineyard, just outside Totnes, has beautiful sloping hillsides of vines running down to the River Dart. They also make delicious cheese, too, and you might see their beautiful organic herd of Jersey cows which produce the milk to make Sharpham cheese. www.sharpham.com
Steam trains South Devon Railway, a heritage line, runs a seasonal steam train service from Buckfastleigh to Totnes Littlehempston Station, about a 20 minute walk from Totnes town centre. We particularly like the roaring fire in the waiting room, with vintage cars parked outside; the smartly dressed ticket collector, and the route of the stream train, winding along the sleepy banks of the River Dart. There’s nothing here to tell you that you haven’t stepped straight into the 1940’s…Vintage Bliss. www.southdevonrailway.com
Buckfast Abbey Still a working monastic community, and a very peaceful place. Although the abbey itself is not a truly ancient building ( it suffered terribly at the hands of Henry the Eight during the dissolution of the monasteries,) some parts of the buildings are still Tudor, and there are some fascinating shops, including one in a former watermill which houses gifts such as wines, honey, oils, herbs and toiletries made in monasteries all over Europe. You can enjoy a lovely lunch in the refectory, too.
www.buckfast.org.uk
Dartmouth; it’s all about the water at Dartmouth… A stunning, historical Tudor town with a bustling waterfront; the Royal Naval College; lots of yachts, art galleries and top restaurants. Lots of boat and fishing trips are available. Why not take the ferry over to the steam train at Kingswear and take a steam train journey along the country valleys and coastal cliffs to the traditional seaside resort of Paignton.( www.paignton-steamrailway.co.uk ) The train runs along the glorious English Riviera coastline along the cliffs and the Agatha Christie country estate, Greenway. You can also take a boat tour of the River Dart and have a short stop over at Totnes, further upriver. www.dartmouth.org.uk/Directory/Things-to-do-in-Dartmouth
From Dartmouth you can also jump on a boat to Agatha Christie’s home, Greenway. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-greenway ) This truly is Miss Marple country. Magical…
Exeter: A Roman city with some of the original city wall intact; a thousand year old Cathedral; world class shopping at the new Princess Hay shopping centre; the Royal Albert Memorial Museum; probably one of the UK’s most charming museums, and the Quayside, where you wander the waterfront and peruse crafts, vintage finds and stop for lunch and a drink.
Topsham/ Darts Farm/ A la Ronde. A great day out These three highlights are all located within five minutes drive of each other, and are 25 minutes from Sampsons Farm.
Topsham was once one of the most important ports in the South West, exporting the county’s wool all over the world, often via Amsterdam. Which may explain a distinctly Dutch influence on the architecture of Topsham: Dutch gables and tiny “burnt end” blue glazed bricks can be seen everywhere, as well as the more usual Tudor and Georgian features. With lots of lovely tea rooms; intimate restaurants; wonderful, individual shops and Sarah’s favourite antiques/vintage warehouse ( a huge three storey 1920’s warehouse on the quayside) as well as an outstanding little museum in a town house with a mulberry tree in the garden, Topsham is a fascinating place to visit. www.topsham.org/labels/foodanddrink
Darts Farm is one of Sarah’s favourite haunts, too. One of the national newspapers recently described Darts as the Harvey Nichols Food Hall of the South West. It started out as a simple farm shop selling the farm’s produce, but has mushroomed over the years into an amazingly big, chic, space in the countryside, selling local produce including beers wines, and ciders; some of the best fish and chips in the county; two large café’s, an AGA shop, a Fired Earth shop, beautiful children’s clothes, and quirky gift shops with more Cath Kidston type stuff than you shake a stick at! Perfect for the odd not-so- sunny-day….www.dartsfarm.co.uk
A la Ronde This is the 18th Century on acid! One of National Trust’s quirkiest places: an 18thC sixteen sided little house, crammed with the spoils of a three year European tour by the eccentric Parminter sisters. Walls covered in friezes of exotic shells, hundreds of silhouettes of people, and collection after mad collection of “interesting little things” from Europe. Plus the sweetest tearoom in the former kitchen quarters. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-alaronde

Castles….. Well, you can hardly move for castles around here: you almost trip over them, there are so many! To name just a few:

Castle Drogo, perched on a crag on Dartmoor, famously the “Last Castle” to be built in England, designed by Lutyens, with an amazingly warm Edwardian atmosphere. It feels as though the family have just gone out for a post –lunch constitutional and will be back within the hour. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-castledrogo
Berry Pomeroy Castle; built by the powerful Seymour family, a ruined castle near Totnes, and reputedly the most haunted castle in South West England….
www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.001001001013001003002
Castle Compton: a beautiful, fortified Tudor manor house, home to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Elizabethan seafarer, (half brother to Sir Walter Raleigh) and “discoverer” of Newfoundland ( well, after the indigenous popluation of course…..!)
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-comptoncastle
Powderham Castle, home to the current 18th Earl of Devon, with a magnificent deerpark, on the coast between Exeter and Dawlish. www.powderham.co.uk
Ashburton If you’re looking for a pleasant afternoon out, Ashburton might just be the place. An ancient wool town on the lower slopes of Dartmoor, with an incredible wealth of vintage shops; tearooms; a three storey second hand bookshop in a Jacobean house, and the gorgeous hand made soap shop where Kirstie Allsop recently made the soap for her “Home made Christmas” series. Ashburton is pretty much a Kirstie Allsop kind of place, really….
www.ashburton.org
Bovey Tracey : Arts and crafts heaven! If you are a “crafty person” you will love Bovey Tracey. Home to the stunning Devon Guild of Craftsmen, housing a; an exhibition space featuring world class touring exhibitions as well as the work of some of the top crafts workers in the south west, a large, unique gift shop and a spacious whole food café.
www.crafts.org.uk
Bovey also has an amazing wool shop selling yarns from around the world and featuring diverse workshops from willow weaving to knitting flowers (!) and the more usual knitting and crochet lessons. www.spinayarndevon.co.uk There is a fantastically well stocked patchwork shop, Serendipity Quilts Tel: 01626 836246 which also runs workshops, and you can watch a real handloom weaver make beautiful blankets, shawls and hand woven tweed on Victorian looms in the workshop at Bovey Handloom Weavers. www.boveyweavers.com
Paignton Zoo Just 40 minutes away from Sampsons, and quite simply one of the best Zoos and Environmental Parks in Europe: the only place I know where you can see zebras grazing on a hill with a backdrop of the sea! Gorillas, elephants and giraffes, rhino, all in sensitive and spacious environments. They also have some irresistible tiger cubs at the moment…. why not have a look at their website? http://www.paigntonzoo.org.uk
Pennywell Farm Well this is officially for the children and families, but whatever your age, we think you’ll adore bottle feeding a lamb; having a tiny, sweet smelling piglet fall asleep on your lap; pony rides, friendly donkeys, and a different activity every half hour. If you around in December, we can recommend their nativity play, with their own donkeys, sheep and cows as one of the most moving and memorable Christmas experiences ever. We love it!
www.pennywellfarm.co.uk
Teignmouth, River Beach and Shaldon Village The River Teign flows just a stone’s throw away from Sampsons Farm, and if you were to follow it to the sea a few miles away, you’d reach Teignmouth’s River ( or Back) Beach on the left and the Georgian village of Shaldon on the right of the mouth of the estuary. This is where we always gravitate to if we have a couple of spare hours….. Teignmouth still has a working harbour, with the odd fishing boat unloading it’s catch; lots of quaint wooden beach huts, a few jolly pubs right by the sand, and a huge collection of large wooden rowing boats on the beach, as the residents of Teignmouth are Seine Boat Racing crazy! The town has a beautiful formal promenade faced by a graceful crescent of elegant Georgian townhouses; a Victorian pier, and a cliff walk by the sea, alongside the main train line to London, where you can play at being “The Railway Children” and wave to the passengers . The train drivers are always obliging and peep in reply…..
www.devon-online.com/towns/teignmouth
Shaldon is the pretty little Georgian village across the water from Teignmouth, with a child friendly beach, lots of nice places to eat, and amazing views across Lyme Bay. A little ferry boat will take you across the water, possibly the oldest working ferry route in England, since the 10th century. A very relaxing place….
Cockington Court On the outskirts of Torquay, and making a perfect afternoon out, Cockington Court is a historic country house, now home to a collection of craftspeople who can be seen working in their studios. Set in its own grounds with a beautiful church and a cricket pavilion, it also has an interesting vegetable garden and a huge tea room. The thatched blacksmith’s forge at the end of the drive, in Cockington village itself was immortalised as the image of hundreds of thousands of 1950’s biscuit tins! There’s also a thatched, Lutyens designed pub and several thatched tearooms with tea gardens, and hore and trap rides, for the quintessential English experience.

Sarah has lots more suggestions for places to visit, and is usually around at breakfast time at Sampsons Farm to answer specific questions.